The effects of Fruitone CPA [2-(3-chlorophenoxy)propionic acid] (0-44 ppm) on post-harvest storage, chemical characteristics and sensory evaluation of pineapples for fresh consumption after storage at 10 ± 1 • C were studied. Pre-harvest Fruitone treatment beneficially affected the physical characteristics of pineapples, namely increased fruit weight, reduced texture loss, reduced crown size and delayed ripening, but adversely affected their chemical characteristics. Almost all parameters analysed (total soluble solid, titratable acidity, pH and sugars) showed that Fruitone concentrations between 35.2 and 44 ppm were most effective in delaying the ripening of pineapples compared to other concentrations. At these concentrations, Fruitone significantly (P < 0.05) reduced the total soluble solid and pH, but significantly (P < 0.05) increased the titratable acidity. Fruitone treatment was effective in maintaining the TSS and reduced the fluctuation of sugar and the sugar-acid ratio during storage and between fruits. Sensory scores showed that there was a slight increase in the score for odour after 3 weeks of storage between Fruitone-treated pineapples and control pineapples, while all other sensory attributes (sourness, sweetness, flavour and overall acceptability) were insignificantly different. All sensory attributes correlated positively with pH and sucrose at low concentrations of Fruitone (0-8.8 ppm and 0-26.4 ppm, respectively); with glucose at intermediate Fruitone concentration (17.6-26.4 ppm); with total soluble solid at higher Fruitone concentrations (35.2-44 ppm); and with sugar-acid ratio at all concentrations (except at 44 ppm Fruitone).

The "Space Seeds for Asian Future (SSAF)" program is one of the activities of the "Kibo-ABC" initiative under the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF). The program intends to promote understanding, and to give regional space agencies experience in the utilization of the Japanese Experiment Module, "Kibo", of the International Space Station (ISS). It also aims to provide young people in the Asia-Pacific region with opportunities to learn about leading edge sciences through their participations in experiments under peculiar space conditions, including microgravity. Students from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam participated in the SSAF2010-2011 program. As part of this program seeds from each of these nations were flown to the ISS and kept in the Kibo Module. These seeds were then returned to Earth where they were germinated and compared to control seed not flown in space. This experiment involved researchers, students and the general public. In the SSAF2013 program, there are plans to cultivate seeds indigenous to Asia in the Kibo/ISS facilities. The plan is to send Azuki bean (Vigna angularis) to Kibo, and observe the growth of their seedlings under dark conditions. Members of the Kibo-ABC initiative are collaborating in the preparation of the seed germination testing procedures, following which many people, including children, students and researchers, are expected to participate in the program.

Generally, pineapple sucker is used as the main planting material for commercial cultivation of pineapple. Pineapple sucker is usually obtained either from the stalk or the stem of a pineapple plant. Research to study the effect of planting media using mineral soil as the main component for the mixture on the growth of sucker by stem cutting technique was conducted. The objective of this research is to study the effects of mineral soil-based mixed planting media on the growth of pineapple suckers produced cultivated via stem cutting of Madu pineapple. The research was conducted at the Pineapple Nursery of the Faculty of Sustainable Agriculture, UMS Sandakan, from March 2019 until September 2019. The treatments used in this research were, soil as T1 (100%); Soil:coco peat as T2 (1:1,v/v); Soil:peat soil as T3 (1:1,v/v); Soil:sand as T4 (1:1,v/v). The data obtained showed there is a significant difference in the number of a successfully germinated sucker. However, no significant difference was detected for the sucker growth parameters. Planting media T3, soil: coco peat recorded the highest number of successfully germinated suckers (12.25). Meanwhile, for growing media, suggested T2 soil: peat soil were recorded the highest for root length (15.53 cm), leaf number (18.00), and stem diameter (2.18 cm) at 60 days after transplant (DAT).